Climax Landers (aka Time Stalkers)

It's been a long time in the coming, but it's finally here! Climax Landers has hit the streets of Japan, and the RPG-hungry Dreamcast userbase. The import was originally scheduled for release this past January, but development problems (along with the fact that Kan Naito and the crew over at Climax probably never intended for the product to make its original release date) contributed to it winding up as the most delayed DC title of them all. Add to that a recent so-so (7, 6, 6, 6) review from Famitsu, and the internet gaming community was just about set to write the game off as one of those titles that had potential, but failed to deliver.

Of course, any Dreamcast owner out there who frequents this site (and really, what Dreamcast owner out there doesn't?) should know that I've personally been looking forward to this game since it was announced late last year. It goes without saying, then, that despite the so-so reviews, I just had to pick up the title for myself. So, I did - just a few hours before writing this, actually. No, I haven't played the game enough to form a real opinion one way or the other, but I do like what I've seen so far.

First off, I'm a big freak for game packaging, so I thought I'd mention something. The game comes packaged in a deluxe CD case. Even if you frequent the import Dreamcast scene, you may not be familiar with these larger cases, as the only two games I can think of that have them are Marionette Handler, and Kitahe: White Illumination - not exactly the most import-friendly titles on the marketplace. Basically, the CD case is notably thicker than a normal case, but the length and width are the same. I suppose the reason for the large case is that Landers includes a super-thick, colorful 66 page manual, detailing all the characters, items, and ten (yes, TEN) VMU mini games. It's nothing special, I suppose, but those three larger CD cases look nice on my shelf.

Anyhow . . . the game starts off with a lengthy non-interactive, real-time intro, as we see the hero, Sword, walking through an empty fantasy forest of some sort. Sword thinks back to a time when he was standing with a young girl 'neath the evening sky. I'm not sure what he said at the time (all I know is that he spoke Japanese), but silly Sword somehow managed to reduce the girl to tears. When Sword's thoughts return to the now, he's suddenly attacked by a forest beast who flees once the super-cocky hero shows him who's boss. Sword goes about his way, and eventually enters a five story castle tower, which serves as your first dungeon, and a brief, simple introduction to the primary gameplay.

Silly Sword makes this girl cry!

You can run around through the dungeon using the analogue thumb pad, turn the camera using the L/R analogue buttons (the camera moves way too slow for this to be of much use, though), and have Sword search for items in the area with the press of a button. Also available in the dungeon areas are two different forms of optional auto mapping (one displays all the sections that you've been through in transparent form in the center of the screen, the other displays the rooms around you in the corner of the screen). The basic premise, for this dungeon at least, is to make your way from a given floor's entry point to its exit point. You may have heard a little something about the title's randomly generated dungeons. I experienced this first hand as I made my way through this first dungeon three separate times; each time, the layout was completely different, as were the item and enemy locations.

There are battles in there, of course, and I'm pleased to say that your enemies are visible ahead of time (I've grown absolutely sick of random battles). In fact, I was actually forced to challenge the enemies in order to get into a fight - they wouldn't fight me unless I selected an option to attack. It remains to be seen if future enemies will attack me against my will, but given that I was forced into the boss encounter at the top of the tower, it seems to be a safe bet that the enemies will become aggressive later on. The battles themselves take place in the same field as the actual adventure; there's no loading, and the only transition involves the camera zooming out and up to provide a full view of the battle field. You have available to you your typical RPG-battle options, including using magic (in an interesting twist, the male lead character is equipped with a magic spell from the start), attacking with various sword-based attacks, and defending.

The graphics in the outerworld will amaze you

One thing worth mentioning regarding Climax Landers is its graphics. Climax was very ambitious in this area, and it shows primarily in the outer world (accessible once you've cleared the first dungeon). The most impressive feat would have to be how the camera zooms out from the characters to show the entire world, reducing the characters to just a few pixels in length. You'd normally expect the framerate to slow to a stutter, as it does in similar situations when playing Grandia on the Saturn and PlayStation. In Landers, however, the framerate stays constant, no matter how much of the world is being shown. Beyond that, there's no popup on the horizon, and you can see far into the distance. It's almost as if Climax has the Dreamcast drawing the entire world at one time. This is certainly one of the graphical show pieces for the system. The dungeons are also impressive, with smooth textures and walls that become transparent in order to show the characters. There are few glitches involving disappearing walls and what-not, but it's nothing major, and the problem actually seemed to disappear as I grew accustomed to the game.

I'm going to have to play through the game just a bit more to determine just how much I agree with Famitsu's scroes. Importers considering the purchase ought to realize that the usual import RPG rules apply, as the game requires at least a basic understanding of Japanese in order to understand what's going on story-wise. Also note that the game is free of voices, so if you depend on spoken Japanese to get you through the game, you're out of luck (actually, this is a blessing for me, as I have an easier time with written Japanese as opposed to spoken Japanese).

I'll be back with further impressions as I make my way through the game. For now, though, check out these screen shots and videos from the early moments of the game.

This guy is responsible for having programmed an early incarnation of one of Japan's most prized series, Dragon Quest. He's currently the head of Climax, a company formed in April of 1990. Climax has seen the production of some of the finest titles known to Sega fans. I'm certain that you've heard good things about at least one of their titles. I'm so certain, in fact, that I'm willing to bet a million bucks on the matter. Any takers? Okay, here goes. A million bucks says that you've heard good things about one of Dark Savior (on the Saturn), Shining and Darkness (on the Genesis), Shining Force (on the Genesis), or LandStalker (also on the Genesis). Another million says that you've heard of Blue Stinger, a Dreamcast adventure game that was developed by Climax Graphics, an offshoot of Climax. See, I told you!

No, Climax isn't exactly a household name in America just yet. But with Blue Stinger coming our way through Activision later this year, and Climax Landers promised sometime after Christmas, I think Dreamcast owners will soon become very familiar with Kan Naito and the gang over at Climax.

And what better a way to do so than with Climax Landers. I'm not sure what Landers is supposed to be (that's not a big deal - I still don't know what a "Grandia" is), but I can shed some light onto why the company's name appears in the title. Climax Landers takes a bunch of characters from Climax's old games, and puts them all in a beautiful, fully 3D RPG. The name Climax Landers is thus derived from the name of the developer itself . . . isn't that clever!

There's Lyle, the hero of LandStalker, as well as Lady from LadyStalker (yes, Lady is her name). You'll also find Marlin the elf, who appeared in 1991's Shining the Darkness. The rest of the game's announced characters are new, though, including the game's hero, Sword. Sword is a young man who loves freedom, and travels the world. Other new characters include Marion, the emotionless doll (she's not exactly human), and Rao, the brave, quiet, diligent lion-man.

Climax Landers takes all these characters and throws them into a wacky world, a world that is divided into 7 different sections. These sections are given the name "Pieces." Each Piece is unique in that it exists in its own era. One particular Piece is akin to 1980's Europe, for instance, while another piece is akin to modern-day Japan. Yet another is similar to the Middle Ages. It's a mysterious world, the world of Climax Landers, and one person, Sword, has been labeled "The Hero," and asked to find the answers to a few questions. Who brought about this strange world, and is there any way to escape it?

The journey towards answering these questions will not be easy, of course, as Sword will have to adventure about the world, encountering strife and misfortune at every turn. In Landers' case, our main man is confronted with randomly generated dungeons. The cool thing about randomized dungeons is that they will differ each time you re-enter. One note of coincidence; Climax Landers is the second DC RPG to feature randomly generated dungeons, the first being Sting's Evolution, a game released in mid January over in Japan. By all accounts, the dungeons worked quite well in Evolution, but it remains to be seen if Landers will benefit from this feature as well, in the form of added replay value, or if the feature will serve as nothing more than a nuisance for those trying to make a strategy guide for the game.

Also proving quite the hindrance for Sword will be CL's' numerous battles with various enemies. Thankfully, to help you through the battles, Landers is being fitted with a traditional, menu-based battle system. You know what I'm talking about - the types of battles that are featured in the likes of Final Fantasy, Grandia, and Lunar. You don't have direct control over your character. If you want to attack an enemy, you don't push DOWN - DIAGONAL - FORWARD, followed by B, for instance; instead, you select the "attack" option from a menu. Your character will proceed to do an attack. You either love this system, or you hate it. And let me tell you, I LOVE IT!

So what's the solution to the mystery of who created the curious world of Climax Landers? It seems that Japanese gamers will find out on July 29th as the game is released to RPG-starved Dreamcast fans. However, English-speaking gamers will have to wait until Sega translates and releases the game on these shores. Don't worry - we'll make the wait particularly excruciating by providing a ton of movies and images of the game in action once we get our dirty paws on the import.

No dungeon is every the same and nothing is what it seems in the high-fantasy world of TIME STALKERS for the Dreamcast. You are Sword, an unlikely hero stolen from his home by powerful magic. It's your task to explore dank catacombs and battle fearsome creatures in a quest to unite with fellow heroes, right what has gone wrong, and return home safely. TIME STALKERS will keep you hacking and slashing your way through role-playing adventures of magic and mighty steel.